A suburban Chicago parolee charged in the beating death of a longtime nurse allegedly stole the woman's wedding and engagement rings in order to propose to his girlfriend.
Raymond Harris, 36, of Carpentersville, Ill.was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and robbery in the death of Virginia Perillo, 73, of the 3300 block of South Parnell Avenue, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Perillo was found unresponsive, lying face down in her garage by a neighbor in the Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood on Oct. 22. She had sustained serious blows to the head and never regained consciousness after she was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in critical condition. She died the following day.
In court, prosecutors said Harris, who was paroled earlier this year after he served 13 years of a 30-year prison sentence on attempted murder and aggravated arson convictions, attended a party after attacking Perillo and was seen wearing "brand new clothes" and showing off new rings which he used later that night to propose to his girlfriend, according to the Chicago Tribune. Perillo's family reportedly confirmed that rings being worn by Harris' fiance belonged to the victim.
In the previous case, Harris was convicted of breaking into a Chicago woman's home, raping her, cutting her neck and beating her for several hours before setting multiple fires to her home in 1997, the Sun-Times reports. Only three weeks prior to that attack, Harris had been released from prison for a 1993 armed robbery, vehicular invasion and burglary charge.
A police source told the Tribune that DNA evidence from a blood-stained wristwatch recovered from the scene of the homicide led authorities to Harris.
Harris has been ordered held without bail.
Perillo, who had worked as a registered nurse for the last 40 years, was remembered by her son John as deeply passionate about caring for her patients. Her husband Mauro had suffered a stroke only a few weeks prior to her death and she is believed to have been returning from visiting him in the hospital the day she was attacked.
In a statement released Thursday by her family, Perillo's family said they were "relieved knowing that there is one less criminal on the street. We can begin the healing process and put some closure to this and hopefully find the answers as to why," NBC Chicago reports.